Bible Truths Illustrated by J. C. Ferdinand Pittman

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BIBLE TRUTHS ILLUSTRATED
centre, and directly the harmony appeared : everything was
explained, the planets and their satellites traced out their regular
orbits, and the system of the universe was discovered. God is
the sun of spirits, and the true centre of the universe ; and it
is from the heart of His truth alone that we can judge of the
law of our destinies. Eugene Bersier.
PUNCTUALITY
706. In all ranks of life, men of slow, tardy habits are heavily
handicapped. They carry a self-imposed burden which impedes
progress.
As a rule, the man who cannot be trusted to keep appointments
can scarcely be trusted in anything else.
Yet how common is the failing of unpunctuality ! How
many there are who are always just a little late, which habit
results not merely in loss of time to self, but inconvenience
to others, and which creates in their minds the impression
that the one who is unpunctual is unreliable in other ways as
well.
It is said of Melancthcn that whenever he made an appointment,
he expected not only the hour, but the minute, to be
fixed, that the day might not run away in idleness of suspense.
Sir E. W. Hamilton wrote of the late W. E. Gladstone : "His
industry was greatly furthered by economy of time, which he
exercised in the most rigid manner. He never wasted a single
moment : every chink in the day was filled up, and he consequently
always seemed able to get through anything and everything,
thus constituting a good illustration of the paradox that
the more busy a man is, the more leisure does he apparently
possess. This habit of economising time was aided by a kindred
habit of punctuality: he never failed to keep an appointment to
the moment."
It would be well if Melancthon and Gladstone had a few
more followers.
707. "Punctuality is a quality which the interest of mankind
requires to be diffused through all the ranks of life, but which
many seem to consider as a vulgar and ignoble virtue, below
the pmbition of greatness, or attention of wit, scarcely requisite
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